Peter Lengyel

Reviews of Books and Periodicals : NURKSE, Ragnar, Patterns of Trade and Development. Blackwell, Oxford, 1961, 62 p., 6/-

The 1959 Wicksell lectures together with a brief appendix on dynamic aspects of trade theory must stand, alas! as a posthumous reminder of the loss to the science of economics suffered through the untimely death of Ragnar Nurkse. As usual, the slimness of the text is deceptive: it is, in fact, packed with ideas and suggestions all couched in the author’s usual lapidary style and suffused with his wisdom, restraint and insight. In the first lecture, the differences between the predominating characteristics of trade in the 19th and 20th centuries are examined. After 1914, not only did trade in the aggregate shrink in comparison with the total world volume of production, but it also became a less efficient mechanism for the transmission and diffusion of economic growth. The increase in the demand for primary products in the industrialised &dquo;central&dquo; economies having slackened off, the outlying

Reviews of Books and Periodicals / Chronique Bibliographique : COLEMAN Peter, ed. Australian Civilization. A Symposium. F. W. Cheshire, Melbourne, 1962.) Pp. 247. MACKENZIE Jeanne, Australian Paradox (Macgibbon & Kee, London, 1962.) Pp. 239

traits sociaux communs aux soci4t4s industrielles ou en tout cas cies problemes communs : r6partition des pouvoirs et organisation dans une 4conomie complexe, genres de vie et civilisation er66s par la consommation de masse, couches sociales nouvelles (techniciens et intellectuels) et leur place dans la societe, mobilite sociale et education, pour n’en citer que quelques-uns. Ces traits et ces problems communs n’impliquent-ils pas certaines valeurs sociales, au delh des id6ologies et des doctrines offieielles Si cette hypoth~se est vraie, une theorie des relations internationales ne saurait se passer des resultats de cette recherche. Nous n’avons cache notre accord ni avec la philosophie de 1’histoire ni avec la conception de la th6orle qui ont inspir6 Paix et ~nerre entre les nations. Mais pour qu’il soit plus qu’un br4viaire de la d6mystificatioii et qu’un modèle de r6flexion ind6pendante, on peut et on doit demander et n’est-ce pas conforme a la ligne de pensee de 1 auteur 1 ~ qu’il soit compl4t6 par une sociologie : science fragmentaire, elle aussi, mais qui peut 6clairer les choix, bien qu’elle n’en supprime pas la necessite, et peut-6tre aussi introduire un peu d’ordre dans le tourbillon de l’histury ~ns usual.

Reviews of Books and Periodicals Chronique Bibliographique : Sigurd KLATT: Zur Theorie der Industrialisierung (Towards a Theory of Industrialization). Westdeutscher Verlag, Cologne and Opladen, 1959, pp. 546. DM 45

to theoretical economics: to define the total phenomenon of industria. lisation in a manner consistent with its incorporation into various growth models and in terms which permit economically significant generalisations to be drawn from the historical experience of the presently advanced countries. It exposes hypotheses concerning the conditions, effects and limits of economic expansion chiefly occasioned by technological progress,

Reviews of Books and Periodicals : HAX, Karl, Japan, Wirtschaftsmacht des Ferner Ostens (Japan, Economic Power of the Far East). Westdeutscher Verlag, Köln und Opladen, 1961, 632 p

htunane&dquo; reasons, but because the loss of this personal relationship will prevent patients from taking complaints to their doctors in the early stages, and afterward, cooperating by carrying out their precepts. On the other hand, it is clear from Freidson’s survey that middle and upper-class patients are matter-of-fact about medical services, and to them the doctor’s &dquo;magical role&dquo; is less of a consideration. If we are willing to postulate that the poor will not always be with us, we may assume that in time this middle and upper-class attitude will become general. And from what Freidson also learned about the fondness of all classes of patients for objective medical tests, we may in fact hail the time when diagnoses of illnesses will be largely furnished by electronic devices after brief interviews for the recording of symptoms on punch-cards. In this manner, since it will no longer be possible for patients to make emotional demands on their doctors, they will learn not to want to make them, and a great deal of ?nalal’se will thereby be eliminated from the relationship between doctor and patient.

Reviews of Books and Periodicals : SHARP, Walter R., Field Administration in the United Nations System. Stevens, London, and Praeger, New York, 1961, 570 p

formerent le National Congress of American I~adia~is. Tout récemment, les progres realises par les Indiens furent menaces par diverses initiatives tendant a mettre fin a la tutelle de 1’Etat Federal. L’abolition des anciens traites et des garanties f4d6rales peuvent faire courir les plus grands dangers aux propri6t6s tribales. Un projet de loi a 6t6 soumis en 1958 au Congres pour etendre aux Indiens les avantages du Point IV. A l’heure actuelle la politique federale s’oriente vers l’octroi d’une aide accrue aux Indiens. Elle leur permettra en temps voulu, de renoncer a la tutelle gouvernementale. Les Indiens d’ailleurs, dans un manifeste recent (1961) demandent non une protection de type paternaliste, mais les moyens techniques et financiers pour s’adapter a l’age cosmique. A. METRAUX

Reviews of Books and Periodicals Chronique Bibliographique : MOSCOVICI (S.). Reconversion industrielle et changements sociaux. A. Colin, Paris, 1961, 320 p., 19,50 NF. (Cahiers de la Fondation nationale des sciences politiques, n° 112.)

amended some of Horton’s tables, to conclude : &dquo;...The postulate from which Horton started, and which forms a cornerstone of his argument, remains unverified.&dquo; K6bben’s final opinion is that: &dquo;...Statistics should be able to render valuable services, on condition that less ambitious goals are chosen and more care is used in applying them. (One of the ways) in which quantitative methods can most profitably be used (is) as a means of detecting certain regularities, which would have to be accounted for by thorough functional examination of a number of representative societies...&dquo; &dquo;

Reviews of Books and Periodicals Chronique Bibliographique : LEIBENSTEIN (Harvey). Economic Theory and Organizational Analysis. Harper, New York, 1960, 349 p

The sixth chapter opens the model to international trade, particularly important since the kind of economy under consideration is invariably forced to import capital goods. Two concluding sections concern time series derivation and choice involving time and thus set the matters under discussion into perspective. There are five appendices, two of which usefully illustrate the application of what has been exposed in

LUKACS George, Schriften zur Literatursoziologie, edited by Peter Ludz (Luchterhand, Neuwied 1961), 568 p. MORIN Edgar : L'Esprit du Temps (Grasset, Paris 1962), pp. 278

The best essay in the book, the most suggestive of subjects for further research, and characteristically interdisciplinary in its approach, is by John P. Spiegel, who is both a psychiatrist and a social scientist. In discussing possible methods for handling tension within the family, either by manipulative processes or mutual insight, he proves that &dquo;a strain represents a discrepancy in the expectations of any ego and alter with respect to... role structures.&dquo; If no solution can be worked out, such a conflict involving a role may be internalized, and neurosis results. Two major trends have become apparent in the Western family. One is an increase in the importance of the nuclear family. The other is the fact that the functions of the urban family are no longer educative and economic as they used to be, but are now mainly emotionally-supportive and ego-strengthening. In Israel, although the kibbutz has taken over most of the family functions, it has been discovered that children retain their emotional family attachments (Spiro). &dquo;Sick&dquo; families are not the ones where money is lacking, where the mother works, or where

Reviews of Books and Periodicals : KIRZNER, Israel M., The Economic Point of View. Nostrand, Princeton, 1960, 228 p.,

Mr. Hax identifies five significant stages of Japanese industrialization : the transitional stage (1868-1881), characterized by the import of foreign industrial products which threatened traditional handicrafts and the disappearance of the feudal class as important consumers; the take-otf stage (1881-1914), characterized by the dominance of the textile industry, its reliance on a single foreign market (the United States) and a shift in the nature of trade; the extension of the take-ofl stage (1914-1932) during which little happened to change the fundamental structure; the first drive to maturity (1932-1949), when Japanese industry responded to the depression and to the challenge of war production, and textiles were overtaken by other manufacturing sectors, notably iron and steel; and the second drive to maturity, since 1949, with its incipient internal

5.50

Here is ans excellent piece of popularization which comes to grips, in a manner both lively and responsible, with many of the major issues arising out of the emergence of what the French now call le tiers mOl/de. (An English version of this succinct phrase, less clumsy than &dquo;the underdeveloped areas&dquo; needs urgently to be coined.) The authors are at some pains to unfold their tale in the very words of its major protagonists, so that their text is interlarded with extracts from the speeches and writings of such as Nehru, NasSer, Ho Chi-Min, Bourguiba, Castro or Senghor. This, as well as their perceptive interpretation of prevailing moods and undercurrents in a number of key countries, gives their presentation